A comparison of the quasistatic and dynamic compressibilities of wet and dry vermiculite

AbstractWet and dry vermiculite granules were compressed both dynamically and quasistatically in a steel powder-compression cell. The compressibility was found to depend both on strain rate and water content. The wet vermiculite was less compressible than the dry. Vermiculite (both wet and dry) was also less compressible under dynamic loading. The stress supported by discs of vermiculite pre-compressed to a density of 2445 kg m−3 was found to be around 90 MPa at a strain rate of around 4000 s−1 using a split Hopkinson pressure bar.